Entry
Why Liberalism? (Part Two)
February 9th, 2009
Chris and I saw this on a bumper sticker in Colorado once and we got a good laugh out of it:
This blog entry is a continuation of my series entitled Why Liberalism.
When you ask Mormons why they tend to be Republicans, many of them will point to the two political issues about which the church has taken an official stand: abortion and gay marriage. The logic can probably best be illustrated with a classic syllogism:
- The church is against abortion and gay marriage.
- Conservatives are against abortion and gay marriage.
- Therefore, all members of the church are conservatives.
This logic makes sense, but I reject the fundamental assumption that if you are a liberal, you must de facto be in favor of abortion and gay marriage. I think it is possible to be a liberal and still be opposed to abortion and gay marriage.
My own views on these two topics are fairly conflicted. At the end of the day, I side with the church's official stance on both issues. (I remember being profoundly influenced by Dallin H. Oaks' speech called Weightier Matters, for example.) But even though I agree with the church, I can understand why those on the other side of the political spectrum feel the way they do.
I personally feel that abortion is an abhorrent practice and I could never fathom terminating the life of my unborn child unless my own life was in danger. However, I know that there are some women out there who are determined to have an abortion, whether it is legal or not. While I strongly believe it is an immoral practice, if a woman is going to get an abortion, I want her to receive adequate health care from a trained professional (as opposed to some sort of underground physician with dubious credentials). If abortion is legal, it is more likely that women will have safe, non-life-threatening abortions.
I also feel that our nation's current approach to abortion is a fair compromise between two groups that are never going to agree on this issue. If I'm not mistaken, the official law states that a woman may legally have a first-term abortion. A woman may only have a second-term abortion after some sort of government education and counseling (depending on the state). And third-term abortions are currently illegal. That seems fair to me, considering it would be impossible to make either side of the political spectrum very happy about this issue. (As a side note, I definitely feel that a physician should not be required to perform an abortion if he or she is morally opposed to doing so.)
I've already written a lengthy post about gay marriage, so I'll leave you to read that if you want to know my personal opinion.
Now, with all of that being said, one of the things that bothers me about these two issues is that they are essentially red herrings. I don't want to say that abortion and gay marriage aren't important political issues, but they are not my top priorities as a voter. I know I'm going to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but have you ever noticed that the gay marriage issue suddenly gets a lot of press coverage and controversy whenever there's a presidential election coming up? And then it magically seems to disappear from public discussion shortly after the election is over---only to resurface again in another four years? I feel that this is a deliberate move by the Republican party to garner support from their conservative base. Maybe you were a little bit on the sidelines about a few issues, maybe you were thinking about voting for the other guys---but then along comes gay marriage to conveniently polarize us all.
Once again, I don't want to downplay the importance of abortion or gay marriage, but I feel that voting because of those two issues alone is the political equivalent of "straining at gnats while swallowing camels" (Matthew 23:24). When you vote for Republicans, you're voting for a lot more than just abortion and gay marriage. You're voting for an entire ideological system that will affect your day-to-day lives more profoundly than abortion or gay marriage really will. It's up to you whether you agree with the fundamental philosophies of that party or not. But as for me and my house, I sure don't. And I'll explain more about why not in my next post.
Comments
Elizabeth said on Feb 10th:
Excellent post! Thank you for writing about this.
Alyssa said on Feb 11th:
I'm glad that you liked it, Elizabeth. I worry about being so open about my political views, but I feel the need to get them off my chest these days.
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